Cable cutter

ABSTRACT

A wire-rope or metal-cable cutter comprising a stand having a cradle at its base to receive the cable and a ram carrying a blade adapted to be driven through the cable. The stand is provided with a sleeve receiving the ram and having a detent spring-loaded thereagainst for arresting the ram as it is driven downwardly to prevent springback until the cable is cut through. A lever, pivotally mounted on the stand, is engageable with teeth on the ram to step the latter upwardly when withdrawal of the blade is required.

nited' States Patent 9] Geller Oct. 29, 1974 [54] CABLE CUTTER FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS lhvehtori Cal! Geller, 3140 Lune/burg, 844,149 8/1960 Great Britain 30/277 Luner Damm 17, Germany [221 Fil d; A 5, 1973 Primary ExaminerAl Lawrence Smith pp Nol: 348,109 Assrstant ExammerJ. C. Peters Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Karl F. Ross; Herbert Dubno [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 8, 1972 Germany 2216954 [57] ABSTRACT A wire-rope or metal-cable cutter comprising a stand [52] US. Cl.- 30/231, 30/241, 83/613 having a Cradle at its base to receive h cable and a [51] Int. Cl B26b 13/00 ram carrying a blade adapted to be driven through the [58] F'eld of Search 30/92 182; cable. The stand is provided with a sleeve receiving 83/613 697 the ram and having a detent spring-loaded thereagainst for arresting the ram as it is driven down- [56] Referemes C'ted wardly to prevent springback until the cable is cut UNITED STATES PATENTS through. A lever, pivotally mounted on the stand, is 254,532 3/1882 Childs 83/613 x engageahle With teeth on the ram p the latter P- 1,l06,026 8/1914 Barber 83/694 X wardly when withdrawal of the blade is required. 2,487,473 11/1949 Peterson 30/277 3,698,872 9/1887 Burns 83/613 6 Clam, 3 Flglres 'I f 4 I 5 I r 1 I 6 7 :l f I 1 F I) I I7 I g i 1 ----.r 8 H i i I /5 i -i CABLE CUTTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a wire rope or cable cutter and, more particularly, to a cable cutter having a ram which must be withdrawn upon severing of the cable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is the principal object of the present invention to provide a cable cutter of the general type described wherein, however, the aforementioned disadvantages are avoided.

'It is another object of the invention to provide an efficiently operating cable cutter with improved facility for withdrawal of the movable blade, simple construction and effective operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION These objects and others which will become more readily apparent hereinafter are attained, in accor dance with the invention, in a cable cutter comprising a stand having a base formed with a lower blade member having an upwardly open cradle adapted to receive the cable, a ram vertically displaceable on the stand and having a blade engageable with the cable to shear the latter by coaction with the stationary blade, and an array of vertically spaced teeth formed on the ram and engageable by a pawl lever pivotally mounted on the stand so as to cam the ram upwardly upon actuation of this lever when the ram is retained in its lower position.

According to a feature of the invention, the cable cutter is of the type which has a detent arrangement for retaining the ram in its lowest position at each stroke thereby preventing springback of the ram and the movable blade. In such cable cutters, the ram is formed with an array of vertically offset recesses or teeth which, in the case of the present invention, serve to cooperate with the ram-lifter pawl. The detent may be a ball, spring-biased into the recesses between the teeth on the ram and preferably the spring means for this purpose is a compression spring which biases the ramlifting lever out of engagement with the teeth until the' lever is actuated.

The lever, according to. the present invention, has a lifting projection which can pass through a window in a sleeve of the stand in which the ram is guided and can enter between the teeth of the ram to lift the latter. It has been found to be advantageous to pivot the lever with play on the sleeve so that the fulcrum of the lever does not describe a circular path when the free arm of the lever is actuated. The necessary play can be obtained by mounting the pivot pin of the lever in a bore of larger diameter either in the lever or in the lugs of the sleeve in which the lever is mounted, or by providing a bore which is elongated substantially horizontally.

According to another feature of the invention, the lever has an abutment flank which, when biased by the spring to allow its projection to clear the ram, rests against the stand.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a vertical elevational view, partly broken away, of a cable cutter embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ll II of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side-elevational view of the cable-cutter.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION In the drawing, there is shown a cast-iron stand 1 comprising a base and an upright 18 formed unitarily with the base and terminating in a cylindrical sleeve 3 which has a vertical axis perpendicular to the base and overhangs the latter. The base is provided with a pair of cradle-shaped stationary lower blades 2 whose cutouts open upwardly and which are spaced apart by a distance equal to the thickness of the upper blade 5 (with slight clearance) which is carried upona ram or bolt 4 vertically displaceable in the sleeve 3. The upper end of the ram 4 may be hardened to increase tolerance to the impact of a sledge or other hammer with which the ram is driven.

Along a generatrix of ram (at the right-hand side in FIG. 1), there is formed unitarily an array of teeth 6 in a saw-tooth configuration.

The stand is provided with a lifting device in the form of a pivotal lever or pawl 9 which has a lifting projection 11 passing through a window in the sleeve 3 and engaging the teeth 6 of the arm. The lever 9 also has a free ram of a length sufficient to enable the projection 11 to cam the ram upwardly when rotated in the clockwise sense (FIG. I). The lever 9 is received between a pair of journal lugs 7 of the stand I and carries a pin 8 which is received in enlarged bores 10 of these lugs. The bores It) can be horizontal slots or simply holes of a larger diameter than that of the pin as noted earlier.

Below the window in the sleeve, the latter is provided with a detent element 13 in the form of a ball which is urged by a compression spring 12 to the left transversely to the direction of displacement of the ram and hence into the recesses between the teeth. The spring 12 also bears upon the lever 9 and urges the same in the counterclockwise sense so that a surface 14 along the edge of the cam abuts the outer surface of sleeve 3 in the rest position of the lever in which the projection 11 clears the teeth.

A screw 15 is threaded into the sleeve 3 and has a free end received with clearance in an axial groove of the ram 4. The screw 15 prevents rotation of the ram about its axis and also undesired removal of the ram from the sleeve.

The cable is placed in the cradle formed by the blades 2 and the ram 4 is driven by hammer blows downwardly to drive the blade 5 into and through the cable. Rebounding of the ram is prevented by the detent 13 which retains the ram in the lowest position into which it is driven at each blow. When the cable is severed, the lever 9 is urged in the clockwise sense to pin the projection 11 beneath a tooth of the ram and lift the latter. The lever 9 is thus operated in the manner of a manual lift pump until the ram and its blade 5 has been stepped out of engagement with the cable. The underside of the projection 11 may engage the stand at the bottom of the aforementioned window to constitute a fulcrum for the lifting action as illustrated in FIG. 1.

I claim:

1. A cable cutter comprising:

a stand having a base and a sleeve overhanging said base;

at least one fixed blade on said base;

a ram vertically shiftable in said sleeve above said fixed blade and provided with an elongated array of spaced-apart formations;

a further blade mounted on said ram and cooperating with the first-mentioned blade to sever a cable between them upon displacement of said ram toward said base;

a ram-lifting lever mounted on said stand and engageable with said formations for jacking said ram away from said base;

detent means on said sleeve engageable with said formations for retaining said ram against rebound, said lever and said sleeve being provided with pivot means swingably mounting said lever with play on said sleeve, said pivot means including a pin and a hole receiving said pin with play; and

a compression spring yieldably urging said detent toward said ram and biasing said lever out of engagement with said formation, said formation being constituted by a saw-tooth array of teeth, said lever having a projection engageable with said teeth upon displacement of said lever against the force of said spring.

2. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said sleeve is provided with at least one lug formed with said hole, said lever being provided with said pin.

3. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said detent is a ball.

4. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said lever and said sleeve are provided with stop means retaining said lever against displacement by said spring in a rest position of said lever.

5. The cable cutter defined in claim 4 wherein said lever has a free extremity extending downwardly toward said base and outwardly from said sleeve, said base being provided with a pair of stationary blades defining a cradle for said cable and receiving the ramcarried blade between them.

6. A cable cutter comprising:

a stand having a base and a sleeve overhanging said base;

at least one fixed blade on said base;

a ram vertically shiftable in said sleeve above said fixed blade and provided with a vertical array of teeth;

a further blade mounted on said ram and cooperating with the first-mentioned blade to sever a cable between them upon displacement of said ram toward said base. said sleeve being provided with a window registering with said teeth and flanked by a pair of lugs; and

a ram-lifting lever pivotally mounted upon said lugs and having a projection passing through said window and engaging in said teeth for lifting said ram away from said base, said lugs forming a support member and said lever forming a lever member, one of said members being provided with a pin and the other of said members being formed with a hole receiving said pin with play. 

2. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said sleeve is provided with at least one lug formed with said hole, said lever being provided with said pin.
 3. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said detent is a ball.
 4. The cable cutter defined in claim 1 wherein said lever and said sleeve are provided with stop means retaining said lever against displacement by said spring in a rest position of said lever.
 5. The cable cutter defined in claim 4 wherein said lever has a free extremity extending downwardly toward said base and outwardly from said sleeve, said base being provided with a pair of stationary blades defining a cradle for said cable and receiving the ram-carried blade between them.
 6. A cable cutter comprising: a stand having a base and a sleeve overhanging said base; at least one fixed blade on said base; a ram vertically shiftable in said sleeve above said fixed blade and provided with a vertical array of teeth; a further blade mounted on said ram and co-operating with the first-mentioned blade to sever a cable between them upon displacement of said ram toward said base, said sleeve being provided with a window registering with said teeth and flanked by a pair of lugs; and a ram-lifting lever pivotally mounted upon said lugs and having a projection passing through said window and engaging in said teeth for lifting said ram away from said base, said lugs forming a support member and said lever forming a lever member, one of said members being provided with a pin and the other of said members being formed with a hole receiving said pin with play. 